Family name origins & meanings
- English (Northumbria) : of uncertain origin, perhaps a habitational name from either of two places called Soulby, one near Penrith and the other near Kirkby Stephen. These are probably named from Old Norse súl ‘post’ + býr ‘farm’, ‘settlement’. If this is right, it is hard to explain why the place name should have developed a form with an -s- in it. However, this alternation is found in other surnames (for example Bowlby/Bowlsby).